Jets rally to earn a 5-4 shootout victory over Flames, but DeMelo and Perfetti leave early

You will forgive Scott Arniel if he happened to mutter a quick good riddance to the exhibition season before hopping on the plane back home to Winnipeg on Friday night.

For as much as the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets enjoys the time he got to evaluate and install a few wrinkles to the system during training camp, Arniel had to adjust on the fly once again after a pair of players left the game against the Calgary Flames.

The Jets ended up rallying from a 4-1 deficit to earn a 5-4 shootout victory to finish with a 2-3-1 record in the pre-season, but it came at a cost.

After losing defenceman Dylan Samberg to a broken wrist during the first exhibition meeting between the two teams last Saturday, blue-liner Dylan DeMelo left Friday’s outing with just under seven minutes to go in the first period and forward Cole Perfetti didn’t come out for the third.

Winnipeg opens the 2025-26 campaign on Thursday night against the Dallas Stars.

DeMelo took a stick from Flames forward Blake Coleman in the neck/throat area, and he was clearly in discomfort as he made his way to the bench and eventually down the tunnel.

Perfetti’s exit was a bit more difficult to determine, as he played the final 31 seconds of the second period and didn’t come out for the third.

Arniel told the CJOB post-game show that the lack of a return for DeMelo was “precautionary,” but the news wasn’t quite as optimistic for Perfetti.

“It’s a lower-body issue,” said Arniel. “We’ve got to get him home here. The first glance doesn’t look great, so we’ll see when we get home. Hopefully it’s not as bad (as it looks).”

Perfetti is being counted on to take another important step forward in his development this season, so missing time would leave a substantial hole to fill on the Jets’ second line.

The Jets must submit their opening-day roster on Monday and it’s clear some questions remain, especially with the status of Perfetti less than certain after linemate Jonathan Toews “tweaked something” earlier this week and is also dealing with a lower-body issue.

“Obviously, the injuries now play into it a little bit,” said Arniel. “We’ll get ourselves sorted out on how we’re going to move forward.”

Let’s take a closer look at what else unfolded in this one:

FORD LEAVES FINAL IMPRESSION

It was already a good sign for forward Parker Ford that he was in the lineup for the exhibition finale ahead of several hopefuls. After a strong training camp, he had another strong showing on Friday while playing centre on the fourth line.

Ford redirected a point shot from Stanley with his chest at 12:57 of the third period by getting to the front of the net.

Ford was noticeable throughout the contest, skating mostly as a trio with Cole Koepke and Tanner Pearson and finishing with seven hits.

“I’ve been really impressed with all three of those guys,” Arniel told CJOB. “Every chance they’ve had at getting in the lineup, they’ve tried to show coaches and management that they deserve the opportunity to be here.

Throughout training camp and his exhibition games, Ford has shown well while moving from the wing back to his natural position of centre.

He could provide another right-handed face-off option along with Mark Scheifele, while killing penalties and providing a physical element as a relentless forechecker.

Ford is essentially in a battle with the likes of David Gustafsson, Walker Duehr, Brad Lambert and Nikita Chibrikov, with more clarity expected to arrive before Monday’s roster deadline.

HEAVY LIFTING

For the second time in the past three exhibition games, the Jets were forced to go with five defencemen for an extended period of time.

Although most eyes going into the contest were on how Logan Stanley would fare in a second consecutive game on a pairing with Neal Pionk, the injury to DeMelo meant that things were jumbled for the bulk of the final 47 minutes and change.

“You’re not really worried about much, just getting out there, getting back to the bench, getting rested for the next one, it kind of takes the brain out of it,” Jets defenceman Haydn Fleury told CJOB. “You’re not really thinking too much, and you just kind of get in that rhythm and just try and give the guys all you have.”

Fleury scored a goal on a point shot through traffic and finished with five blocked shots.

As is often the case, Josh Morrissey led the Jets’ minute-munching, taking 34 shifts for 28:10 of ice time, with Pionk next at 26:11.

For folks looking for clues on who would be alongside Pionk next Thursday, no further hints will be coming until the Jets return to the ice for practice on Monday.

Arniel and his coaching staff have a number of options available to them, but the Jets might need to do some additional tinkering before finding the optimal pairings with Samberg expected to be out for six to eight weeks.

NYQUIST DELIVERS

Veteran winger Gustav Nyquist scored his first goal by heading towards the blue paint and finding a rebound after a point shot from Luke Schenn.

Nyquist then showcased his vision with a beautiful backhand pass in front for a goal by Alex Iafallo that cut the Flames lead to 4-3 at 3:47 of the third period.

After the departure of Nikolaj Ehlers in free agency, the Jets are banking on Nyquist playing a middle-six role and becoming an important part of the secondary scoring.

The offensive instincts were on display in this one, and should Perfetti miss some time due to injury to start the season, the Jets are going to need Nyquist and several other forwards to help pick up the offensive slack.

THE KEY PLAY

Tanner Pearson ends the shootout in the seventh round with a shot that was initially stopped by the blocker of Dustin Wolf, but after the puck went up in the air, the Flames goalie tried to catch it but instead knocked the puck into his own net to end the penalty-shot contest.

THE THREE STARS

1. Gustav Nyquist, Jets – Scored a goal to cue the comeback and chipped in an assist to round out his evening.
2. Nazem Kadri, Flames – The veteran centre scored twice, including a beauty off an odd-man rush on a perfect give-and-go.
3. Parker Ford, Jets – Fighting for a roster spot, the feisty forward scored the equalizer and finished with seven hits.

EXTRA, EXTRA

Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck made his second start of the exhibition season and finished with 24 saves…The Jets penalty kill finished five-for-five while the power play was zero-for-three…Winnipeg won 29 draws and lost 36 (45 per cent), with Vlad Namestnikov leading the way, going eight-for-14 (57 per cent).

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld